Friday, February 20, 2015

The Strade Bianche Women Elite, organised by RCS Sport/La Gazzetta dello Sport, will be held on Saturday 7 March and will start just few hours before the men’s race.

The event is among the most spectacular races of the year, both for its beautiful course that runs between two World Heritage sites, and for its starting list, which includes many of the world’s fastest and most technical riders.

COURSE AND LAST KILOMETERS
A hilly and rolling course (103km in total) with no long climbs, but with many short steep ones. In total there will be 17km of gravel roads on the course, divided into five sectors, of which the first one and last two are also used for the men’s race.

From the start line in San Gimignano, the first 33km is on rolling, asphalted roads. The route passes close to the splendid medieval village of Monteriggioni, before the first White Road section begins (2.2km). Here the women's course separates from the men’s and proceeds for 24km before the spectacular and decisive 9.5km sector between the Crete Senesi, a very long stretch with continuous undulations in the first part, and ending in a climb with wide open curves before rejoining the paved road. Not far from this point starts the third White Road sector (2.2km) which rejoins the men’s course 20km before the finish line, just after Vico d’Arbia. The penultimate section of White Roads (2.4km) starts on the climb up to Colle Pinzuto, with gradients of up to 15%. The final section (1.1km) begins with a sharp descent followed by a steep ascent (maximum gradient 18%), which finishes at the village of Le Tolfe. From there, 12km remain to the finish line at Siena's Piazza del Campo.

The demanding final kilometers, with gradients up to 16%, approach the city of Siena along broad, straight sections of road, connected by sweeping curves, first descending, and then climbing slightly. 2km from the finish line, the route joins Via Esterna de Fontebranda, where the gradient touches 9%.

900m from the finish line, the race route passes beneath Fontebranda Gate where the road surface changes to paving slabs. The gradient exceeds 10% until 500m from the finish line, reaching its maximum of 16% in Via Santa Caterina. A sharp right hand turn leads to Via delle Terme, and then Via Banchi di Sotto. With 300m to go, the road continues to climb slightly then, 150m from the line, a right turn leads into Via Rinaldini. The route enters the Piazza del Campo just 70m from the finish line. The final 30m descends at a gradient of 7% and the finish line itself is flat.

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The event takes place in the wine region of the San Luis Obispo County, with start and finish in Paso Robles. The long route goes through a wide range of landscapes including some which remind riders of Tuscany and the Pyrenees. This route also marks the first time that Eroica will travel to the ocean.

On Saturday 11 April, the day before the ride, Wesley Hatakeyama, the event director, will organize the first Concours d'Elegance to exhibit and award the most beautiful vintage road racing bicycles.

Paso Robles is 200 miles/ 320 km South of San Francisco and 200 miles / 320 km North of Los Angeles, giving participants the unique opportunity to visit these wonderful cities of California.

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Monday, February 16, 2015

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Sunday, February 15, 2015

Also, a good photo sequence of the climb here in the blog. You can use the custom search feature in the right column to find more Stelvio stories.

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Lake Garda is not only a popular training location for recreational cyclists but you will also often find professional teams training there. Just this week the Alé Cipollini Galassia womens team held their training camp there and used the Enjoy Garda Hotel as their headquarters.

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Thursday, January 29, 2015

The announced reorganization of the Campagnolo factory in Italy affecting 68 jobs, including the relocation of a part of the production to Romania, has caused a lot of turmoil in Italy.Around 2005 the company, founded in Vicenza in 1933 by Tullio Campagnolo, opened its first Romanian plant. The second facility followed four years ago. Part of the production was relocated to low labour cost Romania.Relocation to RomaniaUntil now the relocation hadn't affected the Campagnolo plant and headquarter in Italy. The news on the reorganization spread through the social media first, it was picked-up by the Italian media and finally confirmed by a brief note from Campagnolo early this week: 68 out of 399 workers of the Vicenza plant will be laid-off, mainly in the manufacturing areas.Campagnolo management announcementTrade unions also issued a press release stating that, "In a meeting which was held Wednesday, January 21, 2015, Campagnolo management announced to employees' representatives and trade unions (FIM CISL and the regional FIOM CGIL) their intention to proceed with a substantial reorganization. This will affect the company's main facility in Vicenza."The management decision to lay-off 68 people caused a real turmoil and two days ago, Campagnolo workers marched on to strike, starting from the company's plants towards the Vicenza trade fair.Statement CampagnoloAccording to Campagnolo's statement, the reorganization is inevitable to ensure production continuity on the Vicenza site, which also houses the Group's R&D and all activities related to the development of new products and the implementation of new technologies. "The plan aims to recover market shares and margins that have eroded in recent years, due to the declined competitiveness of our Italian facilities. For the future the company wants to focus on innovation and product development. Thanks to future investments Campagnolo firmly declares the continuation of some production departments like for high-end components, in Vicenza."Facing new challengesThe trade union objected to the plan, not only for the loss of jobs and partial demolition of the historical site of Campagnolo, but also because, "It does not include any real intention to invest to make the Vicenza plants more efficient and increase its competitiveness, in order to face the new challenges of the global market," as the press release of the Italian trade union stated.When asked, Campagnolo Press Manager Joshua Riddle confirmed the news on the reorganization and stated that the company did not want to comment further.

Photos from Veneto media:

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Tuesday, January 27, 2015

My friend Nicola let me know about a new cycling video produced for the Garda Bike Hotel (formerly Hotel Veronello). Nicola is the manager at this hotel which is a couple of Km from Lake Garda, The hotel caters to cyclists, including bike rentals such as Pinarello Dogma F8s and De Rosa bicycles. Basically, you can bring your helmet, cycling shoes and pedals, and clothing and be in cycling heaven. If you have any questions after looking at the website you can ask for Nicola Verdolin at the contact information.

Content for the Italian Cycling Journal is now based upon
contributions from readers. Please contribute. Stories about rides,
granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian
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